Ex-Flint man held in Iran: Family denies spying claims; friend says former Marine last seen in August

FLINT, Michigan — A family friend of former Flint resident Amir Hekmati — who has been detained in Iran on allegations of spying — said the last time family members saw the 28-year-old man, he was headed to a relative’s wedding in Iran in August.

“It’s unclear if he made it to the wedding, but his grandma said he never came back,” said Flint-area attorney Muna Jondy. “It’s terrifying.”

Iran’s state TV broadcast video Sunday of Hekmati and said he was a CIA spy who sought to infiltrate Iran’s secret services.

Hekmati’s father, Ali Hekmati, a microbiology professor at Mott Community College, told The Associated Press on Monday that his son was a former Arabic translator for the Marines but that he never worked for the CIA and that the allegations against him are untrue.

The family since has issued a public statement that the Iranian government has urged members to “remain silent” about the situation, that their son hasn’t been charged with any crimes and that they’ve been promised he eventually will be released.

Jondy described Amir Hekmati as a gentle-mannered, affectionate young man who is close to his family, especially his twin sister, Leila, and older sister, Sarah, who live outside Michigan.

“He’s such a sweetheart,” Jondy said. “(He) and his sisters are best friends. They were always a package deal. He’s a softie.”

Jondy said that after Hekmati graduated from high school in Flint, he joined the U.S. Marines because he wasn’t sure what he wanted to do as a career.

It’s unclear what the former Marine’s most recent position was, Jondy said, but he had been working in the Middle East as a civilian contractor for the U.S. government and had decided to visit relatives in Iran while between jobs. She said his military identification may have given Iranian officials pause.

“(For Hekmati’s family) it’s not the unknown of whether he’s going to be released or when — it’s what’s happening to him in there,” Jondy said.

Dr. Hesham Gayar, who serves on the board of the Flint Islamic Center, said he was “shocked” to hear the news about Hekmati.

“I heard he was traveling to visit family, and I was really surprised to hear these accusations,” said Gayar of Grand Blanc Township. “We knew the family as really decent people, and I hate for American youth to be put in the middle of political conflict.

“Many of the youth here are now wondering if they can freely visit the countries of their ancestors.”

Those who have experience with Iran say that bringing the young man back to the U.S. from the Middle Eastern country is likely to be a lengthy and tangled process. The countries cut diplomatic relations in the aftermath of Iran’s 1979 Islamic revolution.

Bauer and Fattal — along with a third hiker, Sarah Shourd, who was freed a year ago — had been jailed on spying charges since 2009 after the three crossed the Iraq-Iran border. The hikers maintained they had lost their way and accidentally crossed the restricted area.

Chane, eighth bishop of Washington National Cathedral, said one of the thorniest issues for Iranians is that the United States has detained some Iranians for national security reasons with little or no access to their spouses, children or parents in Iran.

“Frankly, it makes it very difficult trying to find ways to have prisoners released from Iran when, in fact, we have not done the same in this country for those who, on face value, had some real concerns about whether arrests were valid,” Chane said.

“It’s not a matter of exchanging prisoners but a matter of looking at each specific case. Politically, it’s what I call a tit for tat: You do this to us, so we do this to you. It’s a game, in some sense, of reciprocity, and the problem is innocent people get caught in the middle of it.”

Chane worked with a religious delegation that spent more than a year and a half to help release the American hikers.

The effort involved numerous trips to New York City to meet with an Iranian ambassador and ultimately a trip to Iran, where the group met with academics, high-level clerics, the Iranian president and the country’s supreme leader.

Chane said the groups discussed common ground between Islam and Christianity and how to put aside politics and work toward the shared, interfaith value of compassion.

Chane said the Hekmati family likely will work with the State Department to connect with the Swiss Embassy in Iran. Swiss representatives may be able to monitor Hekmati’s health conditions and what kind of legal representation he has, Chane said.